Teradata is on a Mission! And, 2017 was a Big Step Forward

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Momentum — it’s easy to see when it is high, but hard to quantify. But at Teradata, we are in the business of quantifying. So when I look back at a very busy 2017 and think about how far we’ve come in our transformation as a company, I take pride in knowing that the numbers all add up — this past year was rich with accomplishments and progress. And, we are in no means done, with a lot more to come in 2018.

Momentum is easy to see when it is high, but hard to quantify. At @Teradata, we are in the business of quantifying.

Teradata announced so many new technology solutions and services in 2017 that will serve as a foundation for our customer’s analytics journey — concepts built on Teradata Everywhere. We took many big steps toward our goal to give customers the flexibility and choice to tap into the hybrid cloud, as well as the latest analytics capabilities, from advanced analytics to AI, to derive more insights from their data.

We have Teradata IntelliSphere, which is giving companies a single, powerful suite of software solutions to ingest, access, deploy and manage their own analytics ecosystems, so they no longer have to struggle with disparate and siloed systems. We’ve ramped up IntelliCloud, our secure “as-a-cloud” offering that frees customers to focus on the results of their data, and delivered industry-first license portability to shift away from cloud lock-in or siloed on-premises deployments. We also announced our Teradata Analytics Platform, a game-changer that lets our customers use their preferred analytics tools, the latest programming languages and data formats for sophisticated advanced analytics and machine learning, so they don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time their analytics needs change.

Every one of our technology solutions and services point to a bigger picture, where businesses can easily gain insights from all their data at scale. As new capabilities proliferate through advancements like artificial intelligence, a foundational DNA where analytics is embedded in the people, process and company culture will be imperative. That vision is driving all of our past accomplishments and will continue to focus our future goals. I’ve detailed that future, with the help of Northwestern’s Mohan Sawhney, in our new book, “The Sentient Enterprise.” Using some of the biggest brands in the world as examples, the book details a capability maturity model, a north star, for companies creating an analytics foundation at scale to drive business forward.

Our employees and customers are not the only ones buying into our vision. The market has been paying attention to the changes Teradata has been making. The investment community has taken notice of our commitment to transformation and creating long-term revenue growth. Our stock prices are up by around 40 percent from last year’s close, boosted by our strong earnings reports. And this enthusiasm shows through our frequent new customer and partner announcements from 2017, like our work with Danske Bank to drill down on fraud detection through deep learning, our efforts with GE to use predictive analytics on airline industry data, or our work with Andeavor refinery to rapidly accelerate their IoT information processing.

This enthusiasm has been mirrored in the press and analyst spheres, with Gartner stating Teradata has the highest level of “Completeness of Vision” in its Magic Quadrant report on analytics and the highest use case rating in its “Critical Capabilities for Data Management Solutions for Analytics” report.

We are excited to see where this momentum is going to take us in 2018, and with good reason — we are by no means done innovating. Our focus on providing the most intuitive set of analytics technologies and consulting services for the largest analytics opportunities is razor sharp. We are constantly hiring smart people, ramping up our cadre of data scientists.

Our goal is to be the go-to partner of every enterprise seeking to compete on analytics. We will continue to refine this vision, ensuring that 2018 is the most innovative year yet for Teradata. Stay tuned!

Oliver Ratzesberger is President and Chief Executive Officer of Teradata Corporation and a member of the company’s board of directors. Mr. Ratzesberger has a proven track record in executive management, as well as 20+ years of experience in analytics, large data processing and software engineering.

Oliver’s journey started with Teradata as a customer, driving innovation on its scalable technology base. His vision of how the technology could be applied to solve complex business problems led to him joining the company. At Teradata, he has been the architect of the strategy and roadmap, aimed at transformation. Under Oliver’s leadership, the company has challenged itself to become a cloud enabled, subscription business with a new flagship product. Teradata’s integrated analytical platform is the fastest growing product in its history, achieving record adoption.

During Oliver’s tenure at Teradata he has held the roles of Chief Operating Officer and Chief Product Officer, overseeing various business units, including go-to-market, product, services and marketing. Prior to Teradata, Oliver worked for both Fortune 500 and early-stage companies, holding positions of increasing responsibility in technology and software development, including leading the expansion of analytics during the early days of eBay.

A pragmatic visionary, Oliver frequently speaks and writes about leveraging data and analytics to improve business outcomes. His book with co-author Professor Mohanbir Sawhney, “The Sentient Enterprise: The Evolution of Decision Making,” was published in 2017 and was named to the Wall Street Journal Best Seller List. Oliver’s vision of the Sentient Enterprise is recognized by customers, analysts and partners as a leading model for bringing agility and analytic power to enterprises operating in a digital world.

Oliver is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program and earned his engineering degree in Electronics and Telecommunications from HTL Steyr in Austria.